Tactic's from the Owner's Box: Sustaining a Mission-Driven Media Company

The Owner's Box @WashU Olin · Feb 19, 2026 · 8m

The Washington Post just announced it was laying off 30% of its workforce. 300 newsroom journalists told to put down their pens, entire sections gutted. How did we get here? What does it take to sustain a mission-driven media company? At the Owner's Box, we are interested in how ownership shapes a company's behavior and nowhere is that more interesting than in an industry with a mission to provide a public good.